Marcello Dapporto is an Italian Director of Photography with over ten years of experience in narrative cinema, documentary, and commercial production. Born in Faenza in 1979, he graduated in 2005 from the University of
Bologna with a degree in DAMS (Drama, Art, and Music Studies). He currently lives and works between Milan and Bologna. He began his career in documentary filmmaking, collaborating with director Germano Maccioni on projects such as Lo Stato di Eccezione and Fedele alla linea, followed in 2013 by Il treno va a Mosca, a film by
Federico Ferrone and Michele Manzolini.
In 2017, he was the Director of Photography for Gli Asteroidi, which premiered at the 70th Locarno Film Festival. Over the years, he has continued to work across feature films, short films, and web series, maintaining a strong connection to independent cinema and to projects with a strong visual and narrative impact.
Alongside his film work, he has built a solid career in advertising and branded content, collaborating with major brands and communication agencies on both national and international levels.
His images combine cinematic aesthetics with a contemporary visual language more closely tied to the world of commercial media.
In 2021, he worked as second unit Director of Photography on Blocco 181 (Sky Original Series), directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and Matteo Bonifazio. In 2022, he shot Love Club, a series produced by Tempesta Film
for Amazon Prime Video.
His visual research also extends into the field of contemporary art, with video and installation-based collaborations with artists such as Bridget Baker — whose work The Remains of the Father is part of the permanent collection at MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art in Bologna — and Virgilio Villoresi, with whom he has created visually and aesthetically impactful pieces.
From 2018 to 2023, he taught cinematography as an adjunct professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, guiding film and visual arts students through a path rooted in technical experimentation, narrative awareness,
and expressive research.
His work is recognized for a distinctive visual style, strong technical
precision, and artistic sensitivity capable of adapting to a wide range of
formats and visual languages.
